


Christmas with a Bundle of Joy

by BWolf_20



Series: Bundle of Joy [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bastard Avengers, Breastfeeding, Bucky with boobs, Christmas, Christmas Party, Diapers, Evil Bucky Barnes, Evil Steve Rogers, Gen, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, M/M, Mentally Regressed Tony Stark, Mischievous regressed/conditioned Tony Stark, Non-Sexual Age Play, Nudity, PLEASE READ TAGS!!!, Past Kidnapping, Past non-consensual drug use, Previously Conditioned Tony Stark, Surprise Guests - Freeform, The Avengers aren't good guys!, Twisted Avengers, forced age play, no real happy ending here, twisted logic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-13 10:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16890441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BWolf_20/pseuds/BWolf_20
Summary: Little Tony can sense there’s something special going on when the holidays approach. Daddy is setting up a tree and mommy is putting out little decorations, and Tony wants to be a part of it, especially when shiny gifts are placed under the tree. Tony's certain only good things can be inside them if he can just sneak a peak.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic for the "Bundle of Joy" series. Once again, please be aware of previous stories in this series, otherwise you'll be confused.  
> Also, **DON'T READ** if you can't take twisted/evil avengers that have forced Tony to be their baby! This series is purposely twisted/evil for the time being. I've no idea how it'll wrap up once completed. 
> 
> Be sure to be familiar with what went down at the end of the previous work

Tony giggled and kicked his feet as his mommy tickled his tummy. 

“You made quite the mess in your diaper, didn’t you little man.”

He responded with a coo and simply looked back at his mommy as he changed his diaper. 

“It just means you’re getting big. Mommy would like it if you got big, just a little.” Tony simply flailed his arms a bit and was momentarily distracted as he looked elsewhere in the room. “Just a little Tony. Just enough to say “mommy” like you used to.”

Tony looked back at him as he put his fingers into his mouth. Drool quickly lathered the digits as he chopped on them mindlessly.

“Mommy,” Bucky continued, “Can you say…mommy?”

 _‘Mommy?’_ he thought. 

As he gazed at Bucky’s face, he did remember that he used to call him something like that, but that had been when he was a little bigger. As of late, he was quite young. His time as a toddler had ended after the trauma of being kind of an adult and kind of a baby. It had been easier to slip away. And so, he had found himself quite comfortable with where he was mentally. But still…

_‘Mommy’_

He watched the smile falter a little on his mommy’s face. For as long as he’d been really little, his parents had urged him to speak again. Tony hadn’t wanted to. He didn’t want to get any bigger right now, and so he simply cooed as if speech was impossible and kicked his legs. 

“Okay honey. That’s alright.”

After the diaper was in place, Bucky pulled him over his shoulder. Tony sighed in comfort as he met his mommy’s shoulder. It was so comfortable. 

As he was being carried out of the room, his eyes landed on a stuffed elephant on the shelf. That was Bubby, his best friend. He remembered playing with him a lot as a toddler and he had come into his life because of daddy. Tony waved his hands for it and whined, making Bucky come to a stop.

“What is it sweetie?” 

Tony became more frantic with his whines and made grabby motions with his hands. He urged his mommy to understand because he just couldn’t say it aloud. Bucky followed his gazed and a look of understanding crossed his features.

“Oh, Bubby. We can’t leave him behind can we.”

Bucky grabbed it and presented it to Tony who waved it about happily before pulling it to his chest. He was young for Bubby now, but he couldn’t resist being reunited with him. But then he took notice of Bubby’s large ears and suddenly couldn’t resist nibbling on one. Bucky smiled and ran his hand over his head.

“You know, daddy was looking forward to you helping him with the decorations this year.”

Tony paused in biting and took a stronger interest in his mommy. 

_‘Decorations?’_ he wondered. _‘What decorations?’_

“Daddy saw how much you enjoyed watching us decorate the tree, and this year he thought you could pick out all the ornaments.”

Tony felt utterly confused by this, yet intrigued. There had been many occasions where he could not understand what his parents were talking about, and it was especially true nowadays. He made a babbling noise as a way to question what he was talking about, but Bucky only chuckled.

As they entered the living room, Tony caught sight of his daddy tearing into a long box. Tony perked up, thinking his daddy might be getting a new toy, and he wanted to play. There was the chance he might be too young for it, but he didn’t care. He reached out toward it just as he had for Bubby.

“Looks like you do want to help afterall,” Bucky noted.

Steve looked up with a grin and walked over.

“Daddy would love that.” He dropped a kiss on Tony’s head. Tony, however, was still more interested in trying to somehow reach the box as he stretched his hand and whined. 

“He’s still too small to help though Stevie,” Bucky explained. 

_‘No’_ Tony thought, annoyed, _‘not too small’_

He reached even harder for the long box and babbled frustration.

“Oh no Tony, that’s daddy’s job.”

_‘What’s daddy’s job?’_

Steve moved back to the box, and crouched down to pull something out of it. Tony stopped struggling and watched as something large and green emerged. His mouth dropped in slight awe at the sight of this new and interesting thing. He was sure he’d seen it before. Tony worked his mouth to say the word, but he was too little.

_‘Tree’_

He shouted garbled noises as Steve continued to pull it from the box, and once it was fully out, he stood it up beside him. The boughs were tightly tucked against it and were a bit skimpy looking, and it was barely taller than Steve.

“What do you think hon?,” Steve asked as he gauged Bucky’s opinion.

Bucky moved closer, then laid Tony down on his tummy on the floor. Tony flailed in his effort to move toward the tree, but he was too young to crawl. 

“Tah..tah!” he cried out as he reached for it.

“I don’t know,” said Bucky. “It looks like it’s seen enough Christmases. Maybe we should get a real tree for once.”

“Yeah, that might be nice.” He looked down at Tony and smiled. “You like that idea don’t you son? A real big tree.”

Tony simply looked at him and made a wiggling motion as if he was trying to move.

“Tah!”

Steve reached down and pulled him into his arms. 

“It sounds like he agrees. We’ve never had one before, and I think everyone will like it.”

“So, we’ve officially decided?” Bucky asked with a smirk, “Christmas dinner is gonna be here as opposed to the tower?”

“I don’t see why not.” Steve brushed the hair out of Tony’s eyes as he gazed down at the fallen tree. “Besides, after the trauma that Tony went through, it might be best for him to spend as much time at home as possible.”

“Yeah, and surrounded by all of his family.”

“You want to go for a swing little soldier?” Steve teased as he started moving him out of the living room.

Tony gave a cry of frustration. He wanted a chance to play with that tree, but swinging in his baby swing was nice too.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Tony watched as his daddy and mommy moved boxes into the living room. He was lounging comfortably in his baby seat next to the couch, and for the most part was calm about it. 

“I hope these ornaments will still look good on a real tree,” Steve said as he cut through the tape on one of the boxes.

“They’ll look good on any tree,” said Bucky. 

Once Steve pulled back the flap, he reached in and pulled out a plastic cylinder of shiny ornaments of various colors. Tony leaned forward, intrigued. 

_‘Toys!’_

He reached out his little hands as his daddy removed a few and held them up.

“I see a few damaged ones, but most of them are fine.” 

Tony whined and kicked his feet, catching Bucky’s attention.

“Oh honey, are you hungry?” He wandered over and reached down to pick him up. “Let’s get you some lunch.” 

_‘No…wanna play’_

He pointed at the ornaments his daddy was inspecting and setting to the side. 

“Hmm? You want to help daddy sweetie?”

Tony nodded, but he definitely wanted to do more than help.

“Oos!” he cried.

“Let’s get you fed first Tony and then we’ll see.”

Bucky settled on the couch with Tony sitting upon his lap. Tony was still more occupied with what his daddy was doing, but when he noticed his mommy unbuttoning his top, his attention switched to food. There was a slight rumble in his tummy, so he had to admit he was a little hungry. 

“Come now sweetie.”

Once Tony was positioned to latch onto a nipple, the interest he’d had in the toys was put aside for the moment. There was no resisting the rich milk his mommy provided. Soon enough, his eyes fluttered as he eagerly consumed his lunch. It was always better eating from the source than a cold, plastic bottle. 

 

Later that day Tony was positioned tummy side down on the play mat, watching his parents string up silvery bells around the walls of the living room. Things were definitely changing, and Tony truly wanted in. He recalled that this meant something special. When mommy put out the little snowmen along the mantle, and daddy brought out the circle of leaves for the door, it meant a fun time. The thing was, he was pretty young now and wouldn’t be able to enjoy it as much as he had the first time around. He imagined his mommy trapping him down in the carrier the entire time because he was too young to crawl around where he pleased. He whimpered at that loss and made like he was going to crawl, but couldn’t. He understood why. He really didn’t want to be bigger, yet being in such a young state left him unable to crawl over and inspect a shiny ceramic bearded man of red and white that was on the floor across the room. 

_‘Funny’_ he thought as he looked at the figure. He really wanted to touch it. He remembered his mommy used to tell stories about such a man, and that toys were involved. He was certain he’d be able to drudge up more information if he could just touch the thing.

He made a weak attempt to move toward it, but only managed to flap his arms about.

_‘Need to be…big baby, but don’t wanna’_

Things were simpler in his current state, though a bit frustrating.

Just then, his daddy came into the room looking for the next interesting thing to put out. 

“Da! Da!” Tony cried while trying to wave his hands in the direction of that little man, hoping his daddy would understand he wanted to see it up close.

His daddy seemed to get the message as he walked over and picked it up. 

“That’s right little man. I need to find a good place for Santa.” 

As he moved closer, Tony felt a bit of excitement and reached one of his hands out toward it. Sadly his daddy wouldn’t bring it within reach. Instead he simply showed it off to Tony.

_‘No!...Gimme! Gimme Sanna!’_

Tony cried out a garbled version of the ceramic man’s name before Steve lifted it up for himself to inspect.

_‘Not fair! I wanna play with it too!’_

“Would you like to see Santa this year Tony?” he asked.

“Oh honey, I think that would scare him,” Bucky said as he turned away from his current project of untangling garland. 

“It might not,” Steve disagreed. “I know some kids freak out, but Tony’s usually calm.”

“Yeah, usually.”

Steve just shrugged and walked away to place the little Santa somewhere. Saddened that he didn’t get the chance to at least touch it, Tony started to wail. Bucky immediately dropped his garland and walked over.

“Oh sweetheart, what’s the matter?”

Tony couldn’t say. All he could do was cry into his mommy’s shoulder. 

 

Pepper came over to visit some time during the week. Tony kicked his legs happily as she bent down over the bassinet that he laid in. It was usually boring laying in it, but luckily he wasn’t left in the thing for too long. The only time it was really good was when he fell asleep or felt particularly lazy.

“Hey there baby,” she greeted as she tickled his tummy, making him giggle. “Are you helping your mommy and daddy get ready for Christmas?”

He gurgled in slight frustration. No. They weren’t letting him do anything but watch. He teared up a little as he remembered that he didn’t get to play with that Sanna man toy. 

“Paaaa,” he cried to her, in his attempt to call her name. Maybe his own auntie could get it. If not, he would happily accept any recent toy they’d pulled out.

Pepper reached down and easily picked him up for cradling. He eased against her arms and sighed, liking the feeling of being held. Not only was it comforting, it made travel quicker and it was always nice to see things on the level of his parents. To add to it, Pepper planted a kiss on his forehead.

“You’re going to have a wonderful Christmas this year. We’ve got a surprise for you and I can’t wait for you to see it.” She turned to Steve and Bucky who were sitting across from her. “I heard it’s going to be snowing hard this year.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. His eyes fell on Tony. “I’d love it if my little man could go out in it and make a snowman.”

“Maybe Bruce can find a way to make it snow in the tower’s park,” said Bucky. 

“That would be great,” Pepper said, smiling. She turned to Tony and bounced him lightly on her hip, making him smile a little. “You’d like that wouldn’t you Tony. Every kid has to build a snowman at some point.”

_‘Sno?’_

He wasn’t sure about that. Snow was cold wasn’t it, so how much fun could that be? Then again, he’d seen kids having fun it in on tv, so it was possible there was something to this sno.

 

Later that night, Tony rested comfortably across his mommy’s lap as he read to him. As he read, Tony too tried to copy by reading along with him. The problem was he couldn’t read, being that he was so little. But that wasn’t a big deal because there were interesting pictures to look at, and it was easier just to listen anyways.

Tonight, his mommy had picked out a good one to read. It was a story about a yellow puppy who was on the search for the best Christmas gift to give to his mommy. It certainly beat the heck out of the previous story which was about some dumb kid that made a dumb looking kite that he eventually lost. Tony had scrunched up his nose, thinking he could’ve painted a much better kite than how the kid had painted his. When he had been a little bigger, painting and making pictures had been one of his favorite things to do. In the end the kid got his kite back, but overall it was a dull story. Now this new one with the puppy was fascinating. He really felt for the guy as he ran around town asking other dogs what a good gift would be. It was quite the adventure. And whenever the picture of the puppy filled up a page, Tony couldn’t help reaching out to pet it.

_‘You’ll find that gift! I believe in you’_

His mommy turned to the final page just as Tony was starting to yawn.

“Somebody’s getting sleepy, and just in time,” Bucky noted. Tony didn’t want to agree with that, but he supposed he had a point. “And so the puppy learned that it wasn’t about the perfect present at all. All that mattered was that he was loved by his mommy, and that they were together during Christmas.”

Bucky closed the book and kissed the top of his sleeping son’s head.

“Just like you’re loved by me, and your daddy, and your whole family.”

Tony had barely caught his words as he shut his eyes. His final thought was of the curious boxes under the tree on the final page.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finding it pretty fun to write this fic from Tony's p.o.v


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stared at the little animals dangling over his head as he laid on his back on this particular special play mat. The music from it played softly as he sucked passively on his pacifier. Every once in a while he batted at one of the animals or used his kicking feet. He smiled behind his pacy as he batted the hanging fox which jingled with a delightful melody. He kicked the smiling frog which ribbited from his touch. It really was hours of entertainment. It was something he hadn’t had until he became quite young, so he felt lucky to have received the treat.

He looked away from it and took notice of Bubby who was leaning against an arch of the mat, seemingly watching him. Tony let the pacifier drop from his mouth.

“Do wah,” Tony babbled to him as a way of saying ‘Don’t worry, you’re still my favorite’.

He could see Bubby smiling which in turn made him smile. He moved his mouth, then recalled the pacifier had dropped. Tony could see it by his side, but couldn’t really grasp it.

 _‘No!’_ He started tearing up. _‘Pacy!’_

Tears started to fall as he began to cry over the loss. Sadly Bubby couldn’t help him either.

“What’s up Tony?” 

His Unco Clint walked in looking worried.

“You don’t need a change do you?”

Tony failed his arms and kicked his feet before pointing his gaze to the lost pacy. Clint caught on and grabbed it.

“Hold on bud.” 

Tony quieted as he watched his own unco steal his pacy. Well that wasn’t right. It belonged to him.

“Naww….ahhh!”

_‘Gimme my pacy back! Now!’_

The panic was increasing. Before it got too high, Clint returned with it from the kitchen.

“There, all clean.”

Tony allowed him to pop it into his mouth. The relief washing over him was immediate, and he let his eyes close to enjoy it. 

The sound of the front door opening broke his reverie. From his position on the floor in the living room, he couldn’t see who had entered. He figured it had to be his parents.

“Hey guys. Oh wow, you found a good one,” said Clint as he walked toward the door.

 _‘Good what?’_ Tony wondered. He wiggled about to try and move back against the mat since an armchair was blocking some of his view.

“Yes, we sure did.” Tony felt pleased in being right that it had been his parents returning, and it had been his mommy talking. “How was our little bundle? No trouble I hope.”

“Are you kidding me. He’s awesome,” Clint said as he looked back at Tony, smiling. “He’s been keeping himself entertained so it was no trouble, especially when he’s little like that.”

Tony struggled again to move back so he could see. Soon enough, he didn’t have to make such an effort as the thing his parents had brought home was quickly rounding the corner. It was green and big enough to require both his daddy and mommy to lug it into the room.

“Watch out for Tony,” Steve warned.

“Don’t worry, you have room,” said Clint as he stepped back to stand near him. 

Tony watched, intrigued, as they rested it against the wall. He could see it was a tree despite the fact that the limbs were tucked in against itself thanks to the wraps of rope around it. 

“Glad you guys decided to go with the real deal,” said Clint. “Our kids enjoy a real tree.”

“I’m sure it’ll be the same for Tony,” said Steve. 

He walked up to his son who held out his arms. As much fun as it was to lay there playing on the mat, he decided he could use a break from it, especially if it gave him a chance to see the tree. 

Steve easily pulled him onto his hip. 

“Look what we got son. Isn’t that a beautiful tree?”

“It’ll be more beautiful once we cut the ropes and set it up,” said Bucky.

“Mind if I lend a hand?” asked Clint.

“Not at all.” Steve passed Tony into Bucky’s arms.

 _‘What’s going on?_ ’ He whined at the sudden transfer, but since it was his mommy holding him, he was okay.

Bucky stepped back as both Steve and Clint got to work on setting up the tree in the stand. Afterwards they cut away the ropes and allowed the limbs to drop. It didn’t take long for the tree’s natural shape to take form before the audience. Tony thought it was quite a sight since it was much taller than his daddy.

“There now,” he said as he stepped back. 

“It looks great,” Bucky commented. 

“Yeah,” Clint agreed. “Let me grab some water for it. When keeping a live tree, don’t let it go dry.” 

_‘Tree’_

Tony suckled on his pacy eagerly. Trees like this were indeed a mark of a special time, and he so wanted to have more to do with it since at the moment he didn’t feel he had. His parents had gone off to get this tree. Maybe they had seen a whole field of them, and if so, he had missed out on that. Just the thought of missing something that special had his eyes tearing up.

“What’s the matter sweetie?” Bucky asked once he noticed how troubled he looked.

Tony just pointed at the tree. Why couldn’t his parents have brought him along? Why was he getting left out?

“Yes honey, I see the tree. But what’s wrong?”

Tony wanted to cry but forced himself to hold back. Instead he turned away from it with a huff and suckled angrily on the pacy. 

“He’s getting fussy,” Bucky noted.

“Could be hungry,” Steve suggested.

“Well I can’t have that,” Bucky said lightly as he walked with his grumpy baby over to the couch. 

He expertly balanced him against one arm while unbuttoning his shirt with the other.

 _‘Not gonna work’_ Tony thought as he noticed one of his mommy’s boobs emerging. He would not be persuaded to stop his silent moodiness with milk, no matter how sweet and filling it was. He wouldn't give in that easily.

“You must be hungry baby,” Bucky said as he pulled the pacy from his mouth and offered up the goods.

Tony just frowned at him, angered that his mommy would do this, but he was more angered that his stomach gave a little growl. He had slept late that morning and barely took a sip for breakfast before his parents left. His unco had offered him a bottle, but it wasn’t good enough for Tony if it wasn’t directly from the source.

As he eyed that nipple, he felt himself weakening. Maybe a drink or two would make him feel better. So with slight reluctance, he took it in his mouth and gave a small suck. Once that sweetness hit his tongue, he made a noise of babyish pleasure and happily suckled. 

_‘Darn it,’_ he scolded himself, _‘...but...mommy is such a good cook’_

He was able to make good food for daddy in the kitchen, and somehow also able to make it for him with his own body. Tony hoped his mommy never ran out, and so far that hadn’t happened thankfully.

Bucky brushed his hand over his head, then looked back at the tree.

“Mommy would love it if you’d help us decorate that tree this year. Even if you don’t, it’ll be alright. You’re going to have a very special Christmas this year.”

Tony blinked at him, suddenly pulled from his enjoyment. There was that term again. 

_‘Christmas’_

Everyone was really excited about this, and there was something special coming with it. His auntie Peppo had promised it was going to be special, and now his mommy was doing it too. There was something more to this Christmas thing than new toys popping up around the house and on the walls. He recalled memories of it where he had gotten to experience it a little more, but such memories seemed muddled. This year would be different if he stayed this small. He quickly deduced that it wouldn’t be much fun.

“You’ve been very good this year,” Bucky continued. “So good, I’m certain Santa’s got lots of presents for you.”

_‘Presents!’_

The colorful boxes under the tree came to mind, like from the story book with the puppy and some of the recent kiddie shows he’d seen. And if he really received a lot of them, then he definitely wanted a better chance at participating. Even his mommy wanted it for him since he’d said he wanted him to decorate that tree. But, that would mean he’d have to grow a little, and he didn’t want to.

Tony whined when he thought of being big enough to be like his daddy. It had been scary and confusing because he was a baby at the same time, but it had only been a nightmare. That other life had seemed pretty real, but luckily going younger saved him from it, along with his godfather’s reassurance that that life wasn’t true.

He wasn’t sure what the best move was right now, so for the moment, he simply took comfort in where he was now. 

He released Bucky’s nipple and looked over at the tree. His daddy was looking at it with a frown. He needed help, and Tony wanted to help him. The same came with his mommy. Lying around helpless wasn’t enough, not for them or himself.

 _‘Big’_ he thought as he too frowned.

It was decided. 

He would work his way to toddler-hood and keep it that way. At least until Christmas was over.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was the perfect day to start working himself back up to being a little bigger. He was on his toy mat that required him to be on his back while his mommy fiddled around on his laptop and made notes. He was pretty tempted to start playing with the dangling animals, but he was determined to keep his focus on his first task; crawling.

 _‘Be big baby’_ he told himself, and the first step to doing that was flipping himself onto his tummy. 

He started rocking sideways. Working his legs also helped and gave him the momentum he needed. Once he'd done it, he smiled to himself, thinking that hadn’t been so hard. In fact it was too simple. Then he looked ahead of himself, reminded of the next step—crawling. He slowly moved his hands closer and inward, then paused. 

Did he really want to do this?

Crawling was another step, a bigger one. He knew he could achieve it again, but once he did it, there would be no going back. At least, that’s how it felt. But then he remembered how his parents had wanted his participation. They needed him, and he needed this. So with that, he got into position. 

He wasn’t exactly sure how to go about bumping his mentality up a notch. It was easy to sink down. 

_‘Just be bigger’_

He wobbled from his position and sank down feeling already overwhelmed by the idea. 

_‘No…come on.’_

He rose himself up, and held the position.

_‘You're not a baby baby…you're a big baby’_

He stretched out his left hand and planted it ahead of himself, then moved his right knee forward.

 _‘That’s it!’_ he praised himself happily. _‘You member_ ’

He made the same movement with his right hand and left knee while willing that very babyish side down a peg. 

“Cwa…cwa…cwal!”

Bucky glanced away from his laptop and gasped with delight at the sight of Tony crawling slowly across the room. He quickly set the laptop aside and stood.

“Honey! Is our little talking toddler back with us?” 

He crouched down in Tony’s path and held out his arms. Tony grinned at his achievement, and was further encouraged by his mommy. It felt good to be mobile again, rather than laying around like a sack of potatoes waiting for transportation.

“Good job,” Bucky praised as Tony made it to him. Tony had to agree; he was awesome. Bucky scooped him up and gave him a nice hug. “Daddy’s gonna be happy.”

“Da…dada.”

Bucky gave another gasped and smiled.

“That’s right, dada. Now, can you say-?”

“Omma,” Tony said, knowing what he was going to ask. This earned him another squeeze, along with a kiss on the cheek.

“Oh honey, it’s good to hear you calling me that again. And I know your daddy’s gonna be pleased too.” 

Tony clapped. It did feel good to say words that were a little more intelligible than nonsensical sounds.

“Is this your Christmas gift to us? Huh little man?”

Tony started laughing as he attacked his tummy with an assault of tickling fingers.

 

Tony stared down with a furrowed brow. There was a choice to be made, and it was between the blinking white lights, or the rainbow version of many colors that also blinked. Tony grinned as he finally decided by picking up the string of the colorful lights and waving them. 

“Looks like we’re going with multi-colored for the tree,” Bucky commented as he easily pried the string from Tony’s fingers.

“Good choice,” said Steve. He unplugged them and brought them up to the tree.

Tony pouted and reached out, having wanted to do this part. 

“Twee! Twee!”

“You’ll get more chances to help decorate,” Bucky assured him. He leaned over from the couch and began rubbing circles into his back as he sat before him on the floor. “That tree’s a little big for you to do this part.”

As he took in the tree’s size, Tony dropped his hands. It did seem to tower over him, so logically it would be tough to string lights around it. Still, he was up for the task.

“Twee!”

Steve chuckled lightly.

“Honey, go ahead and get the boxes of ornaments ready.”

“They’re ready to go.”

Bucky grabbed two boxes from the table next to him, then settled on the floor next to his son. The box of shiny gingerbread men, bells, stars, candy canes, and all kinds of other random decorations quickly stole Tony’s attention. He brought a hand up, ready to select something, but he didn’t know what to grab first. Then his eyes dropped down to a cute tan bear ornament that was smiling and holding a gift.

“That’s a cute one isn’t it?”

Tony pulled it close to himself to better look at it, then he smiled. He could see himself having a lot of fun times with it, and of course he had to show Bubby. 

“Now Tony, that’s for the tree remember,” his mommy reminded him. “You aren’t picking out ornaments for you to keep and play with.”

Tony shot him an annoyed look and hugged the bear to himself.

“My bay-or.” 

“No, not your bear.” 

Tony’s lower lip trembled. The tree would be fine without this one bear on it. 

“I’ll make a deal with you. You can find a nice place on the tree for him where you can see him easily okay?”

Bucky tapped an area of the floor before them. Tony got the message and reluctantly put the bear in the spot his mommy pointed to, knowing all ornaments in such a spot would go on the tree.

“Good boy. Now, what’s another nice one that can join him on the tree?”

It was random which ornaments Tony grabbed. The best ones were the animals like a reindeer or a dog with a Sanna hat. He did choose shapes like stars and mini stockings. He giggled triumphantly when he was able to finally get his hands on a Sanna when he found a set of four of them waving up at him from their package. Yeah, those had to be on the tree of course. He remembered that this Sanna guy would be coming into their house, and he wanted to make an impression by putting his likeness on the tree and show how much they loved him.

Daddy was in charge of hanging the ornaments on the tree with Tony occasionally directing which spot to place them on. Mommy allowed him to hang some on the lower branches, but whenever he had difficulty, they didn’t make him struggle. Tony clapped every time an ornament hung successfully. 

“Yay!” he cheered, making his parents laugh.

Aside from the Christmasy toys, Tony was surprised to find some heroes in the bunch. 

“Capin Mera,” he said with slight awe. He had seen the Captain America he was holding on tv and at times thought he looked a little like daddy, but he wasn’t certain. He wished his mommy would let him see more of it and the other heroes on tv, but whenever they showed a fight, he was quick to change the channel. Tony assumed his mommy thought it was too scary for him to see the captain and others fight. The ornament was posing with his hands on his hips and was smiling up at him.

“Oh look, it’s daddy’s favorite one,” Bucky teased, catching the soldier’s attention.

“Ha ha, it came with the set, and you know they can’t leave me out.”

Tony looked from his daddy to the ornament.

_‘Weird. It really looks like daddy’_

“Twee,” he said confidently as he raised it up. That definitely had to go up there, because the captain could do his part in protecting the tree.

“Look, my son really wants me on the tree,” Steve said with a sense of pride. Bucky just rolled his eyes.

After Steve took it from him, Tony turned to the other heroes. The next, was a red and gold man in a cool flying pose. Tony gasped as he stared at it, and he couldn’t figure out why. He remembered he had a toy like this once a while ago, but he had no idea what happened to it. 

“I-or man,” he enunciated quietly. He was a good one for the tree too, an awesome one, and he wasn’t exactly sure why he knew that. He immediately held it up, making noises to express how oddly excited he was about it.

Steve silently took it from him, then stared at it for a moment with a soft smile.

“Of course Iron man’s going on the tree.” And with that he placed it near the Captain America figure. 

Tony looked down at the next hero in line-up and gave it a questioning look.

“Monstor?” he asked as he inspected a bulky green dude that seemed really angry. But then his heart softened at it, and he smiled. Again he wasn’t quite sure why the little toy seemed sentimental. He held it up, waving it wildly. “Twee.”

“Nope, we can’t leave Hulk off the tree either,” Steve agreed.

Following the green beast came a dude with an arrow at the ready. Tony giggled and offered that up as well.

 

In no time the tree had come together, and the only thing missing was the topper. A nice gold and white star was waiting nearby.

“Alright Tony.” Steve crossed over and lifted him up. Bucky walked over with the star and held it out so Tony could have a grip on it with both hands. “Do the honors son.”

Of course he knew there was only one place it could go, and with careful movements, he was able to place the star on the tree all by himself. Bucky applauded, causing Tony to be quite pleased with himself. Steve set Tony down, then attached the plug of the star into the end of the lights. 

“Alright everyone. The moment you’ve all been waiting for.” He bent down and plugged in the lights.

The tree came alive at once as the flashing colorful lights brought it all together.

“Beautiful,” said Bucky as both he and Steve stood back to better admire it.

 _‘Yes’_ Tony thought, his eyes sparkling. The work put in and the end result definitely deserved a round of applause which he happily gave. 

“Now the only thing it needs, are presents.”

Tony looked up at his daddy.

_‘Presents!’_

That’s right. It definitely needed those colorful boxes underneath. A spark of excitement stirred within him at the thought. Such boxes meant lots of goodies, and he couldn’t wait to see what kind.


	5. Chapter 5

Steve stretched out a long roll of red wrapping paper with golden deer prancing across it on the table that was set up as a present wrapping station. Behind him were other choices of paper, along with boxes of various sizes, as well as boxes of bows and ribbons. 

“I think Nat will appreciate this gift,” he said as he placed a little white box in the center of the current paper. “Bucky doesn’t think she’ll like it, but how could she not.”

He glanced down at the floor and gave a sigh. Tony looked up at his daddy, then at himself. He supposed he did look a sight being all tangled up in the ribbon he had fished out of the box. That, combined with those sticky star bows, gave him the appearance of being a badly wrapped gift without the paper since the ribbons and bows covered much of his body. 

_‘What?’_ Tony questioned as he gave him a questioning look. So he’d gotten a little carried away in trying to help with the wrapping.

“Oh Tony. Maybe we should stick you under the tree.”

Tony smiled slyly. That wouldn’t be a bad idea, considering he’d be a lot closer to the presents that way. He pulled at the colorful ribbon wrapped around his arms. Now was the time to start planning how he’d get to the gifts once they started filling up under the tree. He looked at it. Right now there were only three under the tree since both his parents were using the day to wrap gifts. Tony was already curious about them. He thought his mommy had mentioned that one or two of them were for one of his aunties or uncos, but he wasn’t sure. The only way to be sure was to go over there and find out.

He looked up at his daddy. He was grumbling after having accidentally torn the paper when trying to wrap the box. With a sigh, he pushed the paper aside and began to cut another piece.

_‘Now’s my chance!’_

Tony waved his arms up and down in an effort to get much of the ribbon off, or at least out of the way so he could move easier. Once it was taken care of, he got into position and slowly started crawling toward the tree. His daddy wouldn’t notice; not when his eyes were glued to his own task. Still, Tony proceeded as quietly as he could. 

_‘Almost there’_

Two of the presents were fairly large with one wrapped in a green paper and the other in blue. The third was small and wrapped in shiny gold. He assumed the prettiest paper meant the best gift, so he went for the small gold one. It was also a good choice since it was closest to him.

_‘Just a little bit…further’_

When he was a foot away, he eagerly reached out a hand toward the little gift. A smile spread across his face as his fingers just grazed the sparkling bow.

_‘Got it’_

“Oh no no no Tony.”

He was suddenly scooped into the air before he had a chance to fully touch that box. Mommy’s disapproving eyes made him shrink against her shoulder.

“We don’t touch the presents until Christmas remember? And those aren’t even yours.” 

Tony just gave his best glare as disappointment began to rise within him. 

“Steve. You’ve got to keep a better eye on the baby.”

Steve looked up, seemingly confused about what had happened. He dropped his gaze down to Tony, then offered his husband a sheepish smile.

“Sorry. He was being a pretty good boy for a while.”

“Even good boys get excited around this time of year, and Tony’s quite clever.”

‘Oys,” he muttered sadly as he stared back at the gift over his mommy’s shoulder. Mommy had won this round, but Tony was determined to win the next one.

 

Bubbles were always cool, and whenever Tony got to have a bubble bath, he made sure to make the most of it by splashing them around. 

“Take it easy Tony. The floor in here has already been mopped,” Rhodes said as he wiped a cloth down his back.

“Bubbos!” he cried. 

His goddaddy had to understand the need of not taking it easy because there were freaking bubbles everywhere! At the same time he wasn’t surprised at the comment because his parents had often said nearly the same thing at such a fun time. At the moment, both his mommy and daddy were gone for the evening. He suspected they were out getting more gifts. By now the tree had at least ten presents under it, and so far he hadn’t managed to make a second attempt to see what was inside of at least one of them.

“Hey man, you wouldn’t happen to have any inside information on what your parents are giving me this year, do you?” Rhodes asked.

Tony stopped splashing and looked at him. A minute later he shrugged. 

_‘I can’t even find out what they got me. How should I know what they got you?’_

“Well, it better be good.”

“Yesh,” Tony agreed.

“What about you? I bet you have your Christmas list drawn up already.”

A moment of panic seized Tony. No, he didn’t have his Christmas list drawn out because he didn’t even know how to write, let alone read. He remembered Auntie Peppo saying something about Sanna giving kids what was on their lists, and he didn’t have one. Tony trembled at the thought of not getting anything and not seeing this Sanna guy all because he didn’t have a list.

_‘Oh no!’_

A faint ringing started up outside the bathroom. Rhodes glanced at the open door.

“Ah, the phone. Might be your parents calling.”

He reached down and pulled Tony out of the tub, then sat him gently on the rug. After that, he grabbed a big fluffy towel and quickly patted off the water.

“Alright little man, I’m gonna grab that real quick okay. Just sit here and wait for me. You can do that, right?”

Tony nodded, showing much confidence and putting his goddaddy at ease.

“Alright. I’ll be right back okay.”

Rhodes turned and left the bathroom. Tony clapped his hands together.

“Thime,” he said quietly. Now was the best time to try and go for the gifts.

So, not worrying that he was breaking his promise to stay put and that he was naked, he crawled his way toward the door. He peaked around the corner and saw no sign of his goddaddy. He could hear him further down. Cautiously he started moving down the hall while hoping his goddaddy wasn’t near the tree.

When he hit the living room entrance, he was pleased to see he wasn’t near. He could hear him up ahead in the kitchen. 

_‘Gotta hurry’_

He turned his little wet tush toward the tree, grinning. This was the best break he was going to get. His parents weren’t around, and there was a small mountain of colorful presents just waiting to be opened. He kept crawling, moving as quietly as he could. Right in his path was a nice large green gift with Sanna faces all over it and the phrase “Ho ho ho”.

The smile that spread across his face couldn’t have been wider. Maybe it didn’t matter that he didn’t have a list. Considering the paper used to wrap this gift, there was a good chance it was for him. After all, Sanna gave gifts to kids, not grown-ups. He glanced back at the kitchen to see his goddaddy pacing with his back to him. It was perfect. 

He plopped his bottom right in front of it, scooted forward, then happily reached out. When his fingers touched the paper, he experienced a burst of excitement. It took a second for his fingers to become claws that ripped into the paper on the sides. He would worry about getting the ribbon that was tightly wrapping the box off later. Right now, getting the paper off was the most important part.

“TONY!”

He froze and turned slowly. The disapproving look on his goddaddy’s face wasn’t surprising, and it did hit him in the gut a little.

“Back that booty away from the gift, slowly.”

With a bit of a hanging head, Tony pulled his fingers off the present, and backed away from it while still on his hands and knees. His eyes were glued to the present. Despite the tears in the paper, he still couldn’t tell what it was because it looked like a plain box underneath.

“That’s it. Tony, you’re gonna get me in so much trouble man.”

Tony tensed as he neared, thinking he was about to get a spanking. Instead, Rhodes headed down the hallway. A moment later he came back with his fluffy towel.

“Honestly Tony,” he muttered as he scooped him up while pulling him into the folds of the fluffy towel. “I turn my back for one minute and you’re already wreaking havoc. Guess I should know better.”

Tony just frowned at him, irritated at having been caught. His heart sunk just a little.

_‘So close…darn it!’_

He whined loudly as his eyes welled up a little.

_‘Why do grown-ups have to be so…so’_

Right at that moment, the front door opened, and in walked the grown-ups he knew better than anyone else. They froze once they rounded the corner and took in the scene.

“Uh, Rhodes, did something, happen?” Steve asked while looking quite confused.

“Uh, you could say that.”

Bucky dropped his gaze from Tony to the present that had been attacked, then stifled a laugh behind his hand.

“Looks like we’ve got a new little challenge to worry about.”

“Yeah,” Rhodes agreed. 

Tony just frowned at both of them before looking down at the present. The grown-ups had won the second round!

“No!” Tony cried. “No…no…no…no.”

_‘Score; parents two…me, zero’_

How were they this good?


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the cheery song of _I want a hippopotamus for Christmas_ that was playing near him, Tony's sourness remained. He sat in his playpen with his arms folded, sucking on his pacy and staring angrily at the gifts under the tree across the room. The number of them had increased and he had yet to see what any of them were. And after his last attempt, his parents weren’t taking any chances since they had decided to imprison him. What made it worse was that there was no one to bail him out. 

He groaned behind the pacy as he crawled to the wall of the playpen and pressed his hands against the mesh. 

_‘I can’t spend Christmas behind bars’_

His mommy walked into the room with his phone glued to his ear.

“Omma!” Tony cried. But his mommy just waved at him as much of his attention was on whoever he was talking to.

“Yeah I gotta make another trip because it’s not enough. Well Bruce is here, so he can watch him.”

“Omma!”

“Give me a minute sweetie,” Bucky said before turning back to the phone. “I know it’s late, but what if I make another cake? Pepper wants to help with the cooking too, and I imagine a few others will lend a hand.”

Tony groaned as he watched his mommy head into the kitchen. Angry, he grabbed a toy block and chucked it out of the pen. Then he grabbed another and chucked it farther, nearly catching a branch of the tree.

_‘Hey, this is, kinda fun’_

He giggled softly as some of the stress was relieved. Chucking toys seemed to do the trick in making him feel better, at least for the moment. He grabbed another, this one a plush bird that hadn’t meant as much to him as Bubby. It went sailing out and landed near the gifts. His fingers found another block and he tossed it just as his unco Bwuce entered the living room. The trajectory was perfect as the wooden block struck Bruce on the side of the head.

“Ow, hey!” he complained as he turned to find the cause of the sudden attack.

Tony gasped in surprise and dropped the next toy he had planned to throw. Bruce raised a brow at him before taking notice of the other objects that had been used as missiles.

“What are you doing Tony? Waging war on the house, or someone in particular?”

Not wanting to face a worse punishment than being stuck in the playpen, he decided to try and butter up to his unco. He raised his hands while putting on his most innocent expression.

“Up,” he said in a pitiful tone.

Bruce tried to stay made with the glare on his face, but that soon evaporated. He sighed and bent down to give into his request.

“I guess you are getting pretty restless in there.”

Tony smirked as he was hauled over his shoulder. No grown-up could resist baby cuteness. 

Bruce settled in the armchair and pulled him onto his lap. After that he started bouncing his leg. Tony couldn’t help the laughs that left his mouth from this bouncy little ride. 

“What’s up Tony? Why are you misbehaving like that huh? You know you’re supposed to be good for Santa.”

Tony huffed. He had been good, but that wasn’t getting him any closer to those gifts. He looked at the tree and pointed.

“Want pwesents,” he explained. His unco had been kind enough to bust him out of his prison, so maybe he was willing to go a step farther and help him break another law.

“Oh,” Bruce said as he followed his finger. “You know your godfather told me you were trying to open a present early. That was really naughty Tony.”

Tony bowed his head. He didn’t like being called naughty, and now was definitely not the time to be called that anyways. 

“You have to wait until Christmas just like everybody else.”

Tony frowned. So his unco wasn’t going to help him here. He’d just have to think of something else. 

“Say Bruce,” Bucky said as he came back into the living room, “do you mind watching Tony while I run to the store?”

“Not at all.”

“Thanks.” Bucky grabbed his coat and put it on, then he walked up to Tony to plant a kiss on his forehead. “Okay sweetheart, see you in a little bit. And Bruce, make sure you keep him away from those presents.”  
“Will do,” Bruce promised as he gave a salute, which worried Tony. “Be careful out there. It’s supposed to start snowing.”

He nodded then headed out the door. 

“Alright you little sly fox, it’s just you and me. What do you want to do?”

Tony let the gears turn in his head before answering by pointing a finger to the tv.

“Moovy.”

“A movie huh? Okay. Let’s see if we can find a nice Christmas special.”

_‘Anything that’ll keep you distracted’_

 

His unco chose the Grinch cartoon that he’d already seen once so far. Luckily it was just starting, so there was plenty of time for it to distract his unco.

“Down,” he said.

Bruce eased Tony onto the floor then leaned back in the armchair. Tony looked at his unco thoughtfully before looking at the tree. He figured he couldn’t get away with just crawling over there because it hadn’t been working so far. He looked around himself for some kind of item that might be helpful, but all he saw was his blanky with Bubby sitting on it.

“Gimme,” he whispered as he moved the elephant off and pulled out his blanky. He had an idea.

“This is a good one isn’t it Tony,” said Bruce.

“Bad Gwinch,” he said, making him chuckle.

When the Grinch decided to make his move in stealing gifts from the first house, Tony decided to make his move in sneaking a peek. He believed his unco was absorbed enough into the show and the song about the Grinch. He crawled back slowly, and once he was behind the armchair, he threw the blanky over himself. It was no invisibility cloak, but he felt it would do well to hide him anyways. 

This time when he made for the tree, he crawled with his body as low to the ground as possible, that way when he had to freeze, he could just drop down and pretend he was a rug. He stopped and lifted the end of the blanky as he glanced back at his unco. He was still into the movie and had no idea he had left his side. Tony grinned then proceeded forward again.

As soon as the tree started to seem closer, he heard his unco clearing his throat.

“Tony?”

Tony dropped flat and froze. 

_‘Think rug…think rug…think rug’_

If he believed in it enough, his unco would surely see he was just a rug and not a blanky with his nephew underneath. 

“Where did you go?”

 _‘It’s working!’_ he thought, delighted.

He listened as his unco got up and moved around. Tony dared not move until he heard him heading down the hall.

“Now I wonder where my mischevious little nephew has gone.”

Tony resisted the urge to giggle. This was definitely the best plan. He rose up just a little and started moving again. This time he would find success. 

“Tony?” Bruce called again, prompting Tony to flatten himself and pose as a rug.

Once he left the room again, Tony moved. His heart pounded as the nearest gift, a blue present with snowflakes, came into his reach. All he had to do was reach out and take it. This time he would pull it under his hiding spot and open it that way since the blanky was so effective. 

But just as his finger touched the bow, he was gasped as something grabbed him and lifted him into the air.

“There you are,” Bruce said, chuckling. “Hiding from your own unco when we aren’t even playing hide and seek.”

_‘Darn! How did he see through my disguise?’_

He assumed his unco had noticed his arm sticking out of what was supposed to be an ordinary rug.

“You’re not trying to open gifts again are you Tony?”

Tony shook his head, but he could tell he wasn’t believed.

“Come on, be honest with me.”

But Tony found he couldn’t. Tears were welling in his eyes, and before he could even try and hold them in, he was crying. 

“Oh Tony, no, it’s okay, it’s okay. Ssshhh.” He rocked him gently in his arms as he paced around the room. “You don’t have to be upset. I understand. It’s hard to resist presents.”

Tony couldn’t stop. He thought he’d come up with a genius idea, but it had failed.

“Tony. Sssshhhh, it’s alright. Christmas will be here before you know it.” He made his way toward the armchair, but stopped when he looked in the direction of the window. “And if you don’t believe that, just look for yourself. Look.”

He walked toward the window as Tony wiped his eyes. When he’d cleared them, he was able to see what had caught his unco’s interest. 

It was snowing outside. A winter wonderland was trying to form to make it all the more Christmasy. Tony hiccuped as he ceased crying. This was an interesting sight. He hadn’t seen snow before, at least he couldn’t remember seeing any. 

“Isn’t that beautiful?”

“Bootifo,” Tony agreed as he started to smile.

If there was one thing that could make it better after his own failure, it was the beauty of snowflakes falling. How could anyone not like seeing such a thing?


	7. Chapter 7

“I can’t believe Christmas is here already.”

“Well, Christmas eve,” Steve corrected with a slight chuckle. Bucky just tossed him a mild glare as he scurried about the dinner table, making sure the newly poinsettia tablecloth was spread over it evenly. 

Tony glanced up from his position on the play mat. Apparently dinner tonight was going to be extra special. He caught words like “company” and “more food” and simply took it for his aunties and uncos coming over. One was already here. His unco Bwuce had been keeping him occupied with lots of playtime. Tony appreciated that, but every now and then he glanced at the unopened gifts under the tree. If he couldn’t get to them just yet, well, playing with his unco was the next best thing.

At the moment, his unco had run off, saying he had a surprise for him. For that reason, Tony didn’t go crawling to the tree to try and sneak a peek at the presents. His unco was bringing him one, saving him the trouble.

He sighed and looked over at Bubby who was keeping him company.

“Unco slow,” he told him. He wished he would hurry back soon.

To further entertain himself, he watched his mommy and daddy moving about in the kitchen, fiddling with the foods on the stove, and setting the table. Catching his attention in the center of it were fancy jars of candy canes. He really wanted one, but he couldn’t reach the table.

The front door opened. Tony was pleased to see it was his unco, but was confused as to why he was dragging in a plastic pool. It was too cold for swimming. Maybe he thought he could swim inside. 

“Bucky, you’re sure it’s okay?” he asked.

He turned to him and smiled. 

“Absolutely, I think Tony will enjoy it. So long as you get his mittens on him.”

“Alright.” Bruce smiled at Tony as he passed him with the pool into the kitchen.

 _‘What are you up to unco?’_

Tony watched as he set it down in a corner of the kitchen that was out of the way of his parents. After that he headed back out the door. Curious, Tony crawled over to it. This couldn’t be his surprise. Tony had given him no indication that he felt like swimming today. When Bruce came back, he was rolling in two large coolers. Tony pointed at it curiously. In response, his unco opened it and began dumping the contents into the pool. Tony gasped in delight. It was snow, and there was a lot of it. 

“You’re gonna get to build that snowman afterall,” Bruce said.

Tony clapped, but he was still a little unsure about it. 

_‘That stuff’s cold though’_

Still, Tony reached out to touch it experimentally. He shivered and pulled his fingers back quick. Yes it was definitely cold. As if sensing his discomfort, Bruce scurried off to fetch his mittens. Tony allowed him to fit them onto his hands and once that was done, he settled down across from him.

“How about it Tony,” he said as he slipped his own mitten covered hands into the snow. 

Tony’s mouth fell slightly as he watched his large hands turn a clump of snow into a nicely formed ball. 

“Wanna help me out a little?”

Tony nodded and looked down at the snow in front of him. Well, it didn’t seem to be bothering his unco too much so there was a good chance it would be okay for him. He braced himself as he slowly lowered his hands. He tensed as the coldness of it made it past the protection of his sunny yellow mittens. 

_‘I knew it was cold…and really cold at that’_

He pulled his hands away with a whine. 

“It’s okay Tony,” his unco told him. “Is it too cold for you?”

Tony frowned. It wasn’t that bad. Yeah it was cold, but he wasn’t going to be a big baby about it. He looked down at the snow again, then stuck his hands in, ready to build a snowman.

_‘I’m a make my own sno-man’_

He followed his unco’s example with trying to create a nice round ball. It wasn’t too hard to get the snow to stick together, but his ball wasn’t coming out as round as his unco’s. In fact it just looked like a deflated oval. Tony just shrugged it off and worked on the next part. According to that Frosty show he had seen, snowmen had three circles for a body, so he got to work on the next two.

After a while, he completely forgot about how cold it was. Making the snowman was fun. He giggled as he started stacking the balls of snow just as his unco did the same for his. When he was close to finishing, his unco handed him twigs to make the arms which he happily took. He laughed triumphantly once he was done with his snowman.

“Snoman!” 

“Good job Tony,” Bruce praised. He raised his hand which Tony high-fived.

“Oh sweetheart, it looks great,” his mommy complimented, making Tony beam.

He looked down at his little snowman. Though it was leaning to the side and the circles were all weirdly shaped, it did have the snowman shape so it still counted as good. He compared it to his unco’s which was more on point and larger. Well that wouldn’t do. He could make a big one also. Or better yet, he could make a whole little family for his one snowman.

“Again!” he demanded as he set to work on making more.

 

Sometime later in the evening, the doorbell rang. Bucky answered it and warmly welcomed his visitors. Tony looked away from his mini snowy wonderland to see his auntie Nat and unco Clint coming in.

“Hey Tony, oh whatcha got going on?” his unco asked as he came over to hug him.

“Snomens!” he cried happily.

“Well it looks great,” said his auntie Nat as she bent down to kiss his forehead.

Tony nodded and went back to building the mommy and daddy to his first snowman. 

After a while, his auntie Pepo came. When Tony took notice of her, he saw that she carried some gifts in her hands. He gasped at the sight of the size of them and watched as she walked over to deposit them under the tree. To his surprise, the mountain of presents had risen. He supposed his unco Clint and auntie Nat had also dropped off presents when he was busy with the snow.

“Hello Tony. Looks like you got to play in the snow afterall.”

“Yeah, and I think he’s enjoying it,” said Bruce.

Rhodes was the next to come by, which added to the party atmosphere of the evening. Food was moved from the kitchen to the dinner table, the Christmas tree was lit, and the conversation filling the air added a nice warmth to the house. 

“Alright boys. Time to start wrapping it up.”

Tony looked up at his mommy and pouted.

_‘What!’_

He was just now figuring out how to make a snow dog for the little family he created, and his mommy wanted him to stop?

“I think he’ll be okay for a while,” said Steve. “Besides, not everyone’s here yet.”

Right then, the doorbell sounded.

“Maybe that’s them now,” said Steve.

Bucky reached down and pulled Tony into his arms.

_‘Oh come on. At least let me give the sno dog a tail’_

He squirmed, desiring to be on the floor again, but paused when he noticed a new visitor. She had dark hair pulled back and was smiling after hugging his daddy. After that greeting, she turned to him and Tony stared, unsure of what to think of this new woman.

“There you are,” she greeted as she walked over. “We haven’t gotten to meet yet. I’m Maria.”

She shook his hand playfully as Tony continued to stare at her. In a weird way he thought she looked familiar.

_‘Mawia huh’_

“She’s gonna be your new auntie,” said Bucky, “that is, if she’d like to join our little circus.”

“Of course I would,” she said as her smile broadened. “You’re too adorable for me to say no to Tony.” 

He smiled as she tickled his cheek. It would be nice to have another auntie. You could never have enough of them.

“And don’t forget about me,” came a sudden booming voice that startled Tony. 

There was another visitor besides his new auntie Maria, and it was a big blonde dude. Tony shrunk back against his mommy a little. 

_‘He’s like a giant bayor…but he, looks fwiendly?’_

It did help that he was smiling as he came forward.

“Well well, we meet at last little one. I’ve heard a lot about your new life with the team, and I’ve been eager to see my new nephew,” he said. 

He planted his large hand on top of Tony’s head. Tony just stared back at him in awe, not certain what to think. So far, his daddy had been the biggest, but this dude beat him clearly. Then his daddy came up and clapped the man on the shoulder. 

“Tony, I’d like you to meet another new relative. Your Uncle Thor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New members have joined this twisted universe.


	8. Chapter 8

“Unco?” Tony questioned. The blond man just kept smiling.

“That’s right little one,” said his new uncle. He turned to his mommy with his arms extended. “May I, hold him?”

_‘Hold me?’_

Tony didn’t know about that. This dude looked like he could easily crush him. He looked at his mommy. Surely she wouldn’t let him.

“Of course. Just be gentle with him Thor.”

Tony whined as he was handed over. When his hands connected to his body, he squirmed.

“Oh it’s alright. I just desire to hold my nephew proudly,” he explained.

Tony still wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but he did realize quickly that he wasn’t being crushed in his large arms. This way he got to have an up close look at his uncle, and he found that he didn’t seem all that scary; just big. He even bounced him a little, bringing a smile to his face.

“He appears to be quite happy,” Thor observed.

“And why wouldn’t he be?” Bucky teased. “He’s our baby and we make sure he’s well taken care of.”

“Yes, Tony is suited for this life, and he’s been the best son,” Steve added. “Though he has been a little mischievous lately by trying to open gifts early.”

“Is that so,” Thor questioned.

Tony bowed his head as his new unco took this in. This wasn’t the best way to make a first impression.

 _‘Great. Daddy had to tell him I’ve been a little…naughty’_

“Well, I will miss the Iron man,” Thor admitted. “And I’m sorry that I hadn’t gotten a chance to see him off.” 

“We won’t ever forget him, and all that he’s done as Iron man,” Steve agreed. “But, he’s got a new life now. A great and happy one. Isn’t that right Tony.”

Tony wasn’t sure what to make of this particular part of their conversation, but he heard “great” and “happy” so he clapped and nodded. 

“It could be for the best,” Thor said as he settled down in a chair with Tony on his lap. “He won’t be in danger this way. So Tony, tell me what you’d like for Christmas.”

In the spur of the moment, one thing came to mind; or rather, one name.

“Sanna!”

His unco Tho frowned at him. 

“Sanna? I’m not sure I’ve seen that advertised.”

“He means Santa,” Bruce explained as he took his seat across from him. 

“Ah, now that’s something I’ve become familiar with recently.”

_‘Interesting’_

So, there were grown-ups out there that didn’t know about Sanna. It was definitely surprising. His daddy laughed softly. 

“Your uncle’s not from around here,” he explained.

“No, I’m from a place called Asgard. Maybe you remember it, or, perhaps not,” Thor said upon seeing Tony’s look of confusion. “Either way, I’ll be happy to tell you tales of it.” 

Tony nodded. That sounded good to him. 

Once everyone was seated at the table, his mommy clapped his hands together.

“Alright everyone. I hope this meal is to your liking. I’ve never done this much cooking in my life, so enjoy.”

There were smiles all around as people began filling their plates with the hot food before them. While it all smelled great, Tony preferred to take his dinner from his mommy. He eased across his lap as his mommy lifted his shirt to give him access to his meal. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he started suckling. Apparently building snomens worked up an appetite. 

For the most part he paid little attention to the conversation going on around him, however whenever presents were mentioned, Tony looked up curiously. When he finally did finish his meal, Thor offered him one of the candy canes from the jar on the table. Tony happily accepted it.

“Thor, don’t start spoiling Tony now,” Bucky said in a lightly stern voice. 

“Consider it an early gift,” he said before winking at Tony who grinned.

Bucky shook his head before taking a moment to help Tony open it.

_‘Finally’_

He would get a chance to experience the popular Christmas treat. The moment it touched his tongue, the pepperminty goodness filled his mouth in a good way. He shut his eyes in comfort and leaned back against his mommy to enjoy his new treat.

 

By the time their company filed out, Tony felt the dreaded tiredness of a long day. He groaned as he looked over at the presents under the tree from his position on his play mat. As much as he really wanted to crawl over there, he just didn’t feel up to it.

_‘Can’t get tired now. It’s Christmas eve!’_

But the eyes were drooping and it was as struggle to keep them open.

“Honey, looks like it’s bed time.”

Tony shook his head as his daddy approached him. 

_‘No!’_

There were still many things he could do before bedtime. He could build more snomens, or watch another Christmas movie, or…or…

Once his daddy’s arms wrapped around him, he felt compelled to just lay his head on his shoulder. 

“Bubby,” he said weakly as he pointed to the couch. 

“Of course. We can’t leave him behind,” his daddy agreed. He reached for his friend then turned in the direction of the hall. 

Tony squirmed slightly as he noticed his bedroom coming into his sight. He was sure he could fight this drowsiness.

“Time for bed precious,” his mommy said. He was waiting for him next to the crib.

Once his daddy put him down, he bent down to kiss his forehead.

“Sleep tight, and tomorrow, you’ll finally get to see what Santa brought you.”

Tony’s eyes widened. That was right. Being that it was Christmas Eve, Sanna would have to come in the night to drop off presents. If he could stay up, he would catch him. He would meet this famous red suited man at last. So that meant he couldn’t give into sleep.

“No sweep!”

“Yes sleep,” said his daddy. 

“No!”

“Yes.” He bent down and left a kiss on his forehead as well.

Tony tried to argue again, but his next “no” came out quietly. 

Once his parents walked away and the lights were turned off, Tony was left blinking in the darkness. He would not sleep. He would stay up, and the minute he heard an indication of Sanna entering the house, he’d find a way to climb out of his crib to see him. All he had to do, was stay awake. He decided to find some help by watching the slowly spinning mobile over his head. 

In the end it turned out to be a bad choice as his eyes fluttered closed. Several minutes later, he was snoozing softly.


	9. Chapter 9

“Sweetie, wake up.”

Tony blinked slowly at the sound of his mommy’s voice. He was trying to wake him, but he wasn’t ready to get up just yet.

“Come on sweetie. It’s Christmas morning.”

It was the right thing to say to get his attention. Christmas morning! It was Christmas morning.

“Chwistmas?” Tony questioned.

His smiling mommy nodded. Tony opened his eyes a little wider. It really was here at last. The dreadful wait was over, and now he could see what was in all those presents. He raised his arms so his mommy could immediately scoop him up.

“I bet Santa’s left you a lot of gifts this year.”

At the mention of Sanna, Tony pouted a bit. He had fallen asleep last night, and in doing so he had missed him.

“Sanna,” he muttered.

“Yes, Santa. Let’s get daddy and see what he left us.”

_‘Daddy better not be sleeping late!’_

Luckily he wasn’t. He was sitting up on the bed wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Dada! It's Chwistmas!”

He smiled at him and got to his feet to fetch a robe.

“That’s right kiddo. Christmas is here, so let’s see what we got.”

Tony happily clapped his hands. The excitement that was building within him wiped away any lasting drowsiness. If he could, he would have jumped out of his mommy’s arms and raced to the tree. For now, all he could do was bounce in his arms as they moved down the hall together. 

“Chwistmas! Chwistmas!”

As they rounded the corner, Tony kept his eyes out for any new gifts. As the tree came into his view, he couldn’t see any difference in the amount of gifts. Maybe Sanna hadn’t come. That idea was a little sad, but he supposed it really wouldn’t matter since there were already so many gifts. He would not dwell on it with worry. This was supposed to be a great day, and he would enjoy it whether or not the big man in red had come. He clapped then pointed at the tree. Now it was no longer illegal for him to open those gifts. 

His daddy chuckled.

“You can finally open those gifts son. Just let me contact the team so they can join us as well.”

Tony huffed. He didn’t want to wait. He wanted to see what was going on now.

“Gifts!” he shouted urgently.

“We’ll get to it sweetheart, don’t worry,” said his mommy. But that did little to soothe him.

 

Tony could barely concentrate on anything else as they awaited the rest of their family. His mommy had tried to get him into a movie about Sanna, but he found it difficult to watch the screen when his eyes kept floating over to the tree. 

When the doorbell sounded, a shriek of excitement escaped Tony’s lips. Finally they had arrived, and Christmas would at last begin. 

His auntie Peppo filed in, followed by his unco Bwuce, then his new auntie Mawia. His goddaddy came, along with unco Clint and auntie Nat. The only person missing was his new unco Tho. Hugs and kisses were passed all around before everyone eventually settled around the tree. His daddy stepped next to the tree with a cup of coffee in his hands as he smiled at everyone.

“I’d like to take this moment to wish everyone a merry Christmas,” he said. “I know we’re all eager to see what we got. I know a certain someone in particularly who’s eager.” Tony giggled as he tossed him a knowing look. “But regardless of the presents, the most important thing is that we’re here together. As Avengers, we’ve fought many battles together in order to keep the peace on earth, and there’s no better day to celebrate that peace then right now. Merry Christmas.”

Everyone happily returned the greeting as did Tony who clapped.

“Mewy Chwistmas!” he cried happily. He leaned forward from his mommy’s lap in an attempt to reach out to the gifts.

“I think, according to Tony, it’s time to open presents,” said Rhodes.

“Absolutely,” Clint agreed.

Steve reached down and placed a Sanna decorated gift in Tony’s lap.

“Merry Christmas son.”

Smiling, Tony looked at his daddy for the okay.

 _‘Now, I can open it now right!?’_

The nod of approval was all he needed. 

_’Finally!’_

With a burst of joy, he let his fingers rip into the paper. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed his family passing presents to the rightful owners, but he was more focused on what was being revealed right in front of him. The softly playing Christmas music was drowned out by the sound of ripping paper, gasps, and “thank yous”.

“What did you get sweetheart?” his mommy asked.

Tony studied it. It looked like some happy colorful insect like robot with buttons. 

“Oh, isn’t that awesome,” said his auntie Peppo.

Tony nodded in agreement.

_‘It does look cool’_

“Looks like it’ll sing and dance for you,” his mommy said as she raised the box.

“Sing, danss?” Tony asked. If that was true, then this new friend was already a little more talented than Bubby who never did anything really. 

He handed it to his mommy so he could get it out of the box, then turned to receive another gift. The next toy turned out to be a train, and another was an interesting looking block puzzle. There had been no bad gifts so far, which only increased his happy mood. By the time he hit his fifth present, his mommy had set up the insect toy to sing and dance on the table. 

Tony stared at it, awed and more than delighted. The little creature wiggled its hips and spun around which very much impressed him. So of course it deserved a round of applause.

“Good luck listening to that around the clock,” his auntie Mawia joked to his daddy.

It was a great time. There was laughter and hugs and gifts like new sweaters, jewelry, candy, watches, mugs, and various other items that Tony couldn’t quite keep up with. As he hugged his new plush giraffe, he thought the one thing that would make it even greater, was an appearance from the big man himself. It was okay not seeing Sanna, but, it would’ve been nice to meet him.

“Are you having a nice Christmas so far?” his goddaddy asked him. 

Tony nodded, grinning. It was more than nice. His goddaddy ruffled up his hair before wandering over to see what auntie Peppo had gotten from his daddy.

Just then, the doorbell sounded. 

“Hmm, I wonder who that could be,” said his mommy.

“Unco,” Tony suggested. It had to be his unco Tho since he was the only one not present. 

His daddy crossed the room to answer the door while Tony took more interest in getting the insect to dance again. A sharp gasp from his mommy caught his attention.

“Tony, look who’s here.”

_’Unco Tho. Who else would be…’_

When he turned, it wasn’t his unco standing there with a bag of toys slung over his shoulder. It was the big man himself. His eyes widened as he took in the redness of his suit, and the whiteness of his bushy beard. 

“Ss…Sanna?” he asked in a small voice. It couldn’t be. Sanna was not just standing there in his house with a bag full of goodies.

“Ho ho ho,” came his hearty voice that seemed to shake his very round belly. “I heard there’s a very good boy here who’s been eager to meet me.” 

Tony gasped. 

_‘He said, ‘Ho ho ho’! That confirms it!’_

He reached his arms toward the man of Christmas.

“Sanna!”

Sanna set the bag down and easily scooped up his giggling form. Tony was sure the moisture in his eyes would become tears of joy that would soon travel down his cheeks. 

“Have you been a good boy?”

Tony looked into that smiling face, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed. He bobbed his head up and down slowly. 

“Well that’s good to know, because I brought a sack-ful of presents just for you.” He poked his belly, as Tony felt yet another wave of excitement. 

“Aren’t you lucky,” said his mommy.

He certainly felt lucky. Sanna had come all the way from the North Pole just to see him. It was, truly an honor. 

“Have a seat, Santa,” said his unco Bwuce who stood to give up his seat.

“I’ve gotta get my camera!” his mommy cried before racing from the room. 

Santa Clause positioned Tony across his lap. It was soft and comfortable, but something about it almost reminded him of his unco Tho. But he knew it couldn’t possibly be his unco Tho, because this man didn’t look a bit like him. And with the thought of his missing unco in mind, he wished he could have been present to share this moment. Unco Tho didn’t know a lot about Christmas so this would have been a great treat for him.

Tony just couldn’t get over it. He was on Sanna’s lap! He reached out a trembling hand to touch his beard, then he smiled.

“Okay, smile for mommy.”

Sanna turned and Tony followed his lead. His mommy had the camera all ready to go.

“Mewy Chwistmas Sanna.”

He chuckled softly and pulled him close.

“Merry Christmas Tony.”

As his mommy took the picture, Tony couldn’t help thinking this had been the best Christmas he had ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a fun story from the series to work on being it was from Tony's p.o.v. Thor as Santa was also fun. I'm glad I was able to complete this before Christmas.  
> The series isn't wrapped up just yet. I figure there's only a few more to go. 
> 
> For now, I wish you all a happy holidays :D


End file.
